Chapter 1537: Confrontation [1]

Damien's conversations with the Ahaiyute Tree and Katya weren't over yet.

Well, he gained all the information he wanted from them, but conversations didn't exist just to spread information between people, did they?

Damien remained for the rest of the day before he even had thoughts of leaving.

Katya hadn't seen people ever since she left Arulion to seek her true origins. As for the Ahaiyute Tree, it was even more socially isolated.

He taught the tree how to properly use its knowledge, and in return, the tree continued to question him about things he never thought about, opening new paths for him to explore.

His time in the Frostbound Mountain Range was good for him. The chilling atmosphere made him feel present in his own body, and the curiosity in his soul burned bright, warming him and igniting his imagination.

Perhaps it was because this place was so isolated from society that Damien found a moment to think like this.

He had been surrounded by people for a very long time, after all.

Ice Luan Mountain was lively. In the mornings, the luans would fly through the sky and create beautiful scenes of falling frost.

The creatures that had adapted to this cold environment treasured each other, and despite the need they had to kill each other to survive, they respected their peers and didn't needlessly slaughter.

It was a balanced ecosystem, a peaceful one.

But Damien...he was never someone who considered himself a peace lover.

Usually, if he stayed in a peaceful environment for too long, he would start to feel restless. The chaos comforted his busy mind, filling it with thoughts.

Damien hated silence. He hated when his thoughts were left alone to run wild. It wasn't as if he was still plagued by mental problems, but he still remembered those days when his thoughts would cause him more pain than anyone else ever could.

That was why he didn't like the silence, even to this day.

Was the fact that he could find happiness in this peace a good thing?

Did it mean he was finally getting rid of the lingering effects of those times?

Or did it just mean he was jaded, disillusioned, and unwilling to deal with the world's troubles?

Damien didn't know.

He hardly felt anything. Not just in this moment, but in general.

His emotions, which had always been reserved only for the people he cared for, were no longer able to be excited by anything else.

It was his fault that he'd become like this.

'I feel numb.'

But that numbness was only temporary. Just like everything else, it would one day fade away as he found something new to replace it.

'Life is...long.'

But that longevity meant that he could take the time to explore anything and everything to the deepest depths. He could experience just as many wonders as he did tragedies.

'Even in people, there is so much variation.'

If he just made a single choice differently than he usually did, would that completely change the dynamics of the people he interacted with?

This was the curiosity he'd gained on Ice Luan Mountain.

And aside from the Harmony Fruit, it was the thing he was most excited to take down the mountain with him.

'It's about time to leave now, isn't it?'

He'd made a connection with Katya and the Ahaiyute Tree. He'd achieved his goal. And he'd even gained something more.

He didn't have to wait to go down the mountain.

True, he was a little sad to part with this atmosphere, but all good things had to come to an end.

For this one...

That end would come far sooner than Damien realized.

Because he'd made a mistake during his climb.

And now, he had a target on his back.

***

Damien knew he was being watched, but he didn't know he was being watched for more than one reason.

For the most part, the enemies he had in the Heavenly World wanted to kill him because he was the one currently leading Void Palace.

With his death, they could destroy the palace's morale and gain an advantage against their troops.

Some had personal grudges, while for others it was more complex.

For a certain force, however, the reason for observing Damien was different.

The Foreign Races in the hidden principality, led by Grand Duke Famas, had been watching Damien because he was the son of Dante Void.

They expected him to have mysterious powers and abilities beyond others simply because of his bloodline, but they were always watching to make sure those abilities weren't out of the scope of their perception.

And, while Damien was an important target for them, he wasn't the most important.

What they were looking for was an "anomaly."

They didn't have a lot of information. The Dark God only told them that he sensed something strange, a presence that didn't match anything else.

The Dark God sensed that presence first in Count Verex's territory, but he didn't tell his people that.

After all, it didn't matter. That presence had moved to the Heavenly World, and if it appeared again, he would sense it again.

Naturally, the Dark God wasn't a being who cared about his subjects much.

And on top of that, since they'd always succeeded, he didn't think there was a chance for them to fail in finding the anomaly.

The Foreign Nobility thought this would be the first time they disappointed their Lord, because no matter how much time had passed, they couldn't find a trace of anything "unnatural."

Even the unnatural events and characters were merely a little better than the rest. In the grand scheme of things, they didn't mean anything.

So the Foreign Nobility were a bit on edge, using the most of their ability to find any clues possible.

That was the state they maintained at all hours of the day.

It would have been odd if they didn't find it.

A signal from the Frostbound Mountain Range, a trace of something that "should not have existed."

Existence itself.

Damien used its abilities when he met Envy. It was only for a brief moment, but it was enough to confirm that "something" in the Frostbound Mountain Range was the source.

Only the Grand Dukes were able to find something strange. They had the Dark God's blessing, so they could tap into a percentage of his perception ability to search for anomalies.

And when they confirmed the location...

Another piece of news they'd learned because they were keeping track of a certain man made it to Grand Duke Famas' ears.

"Damien Void is in the Frostbound Mountain Range."

The man who had isolated himself in his iron fortress for years had finally come out?

And the moment he came out, a clue was found in the location he traveled to?

Only an idiot wouldn't be able to connect the dots.

Grand Duke Famas had a large grin on his face when he received the information.

The man he wanted to kill, and the anomaly he was tasked to destroy...

They were either one and the same or closely related.

And if that was the case, then...

"Do not waste any more time."

...there was no need to hesitate.

"Send a party to the Frostbound Mountain Range, and before the sun rises over the sky..."

"...eliminate Damien Void."